


Communication Breakdown

by beatlechicksteph



Series: Fallen out of Time [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: All MCU Spoilers, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27770611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beatlechicksteph/pseuds/beatlechicksteph
Summary: Post-Blip, Hermione and Peter try to reconnect while on a school trip to Europe.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Peter Parker
Series: Fallen out of Time [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1413838
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49
Collections: Marvelously Magical Bingo 2020





	Communication Breakdown

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #MMFBingo20
> 
> Square G2: Alternate Universe

“Remind me again why I’m letting you go on this trip?” Tony asked as he helped Hermione pack her suitcase. 

“Because you and Mom agreed that getting out of the house and socializing with kids my own age, not just Peter, would be good for me. And that I should see the world while I’m young,” Hermione said, smiling. 

Tony sighed. “I don’t remember saying any of that. I think I should sign up as a chaperone.”

Hermione laughed. “I don’t think they’ll let you, technically I don’t go to the school, and you already pulled a lot of strings for me to go with Peter.”

Tony sighed. “I don’t like you going on a vacation with your boyfriend without the supervision of F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

Hermione shook her head. “You’re going to have to trust us someday, dad. We’re almost adults.”

“I know, I know, and I’ll get there. It’s just hard. I’m not ready for you to be a grown up. It happened way too fast.”

“Well, that tends to happen when you adopt a teenager,” Hermione smiled.

“Well, I’ll just have to find a way to keep Morgan from ever growing up. I’ll just get in the shop and see if there is something I can do…”

“Dad,” Hermione laughed.

“Fine, no fountain of youth invention. Am I allowed to tell you to be careful and to not let Spider-Man show off for you?”

They had been back from the snap for almost a year. Peter had gone back to school and had been coming up to visit on weekends. Hermione had finished her schooling and taken her NEWTS, and she was ready to find a magical job. Peter still had one year of school left, and was in no rush to go into the real world. Which was fine. He was really busy establishing himself as “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” in the city, and he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do when he graduated. Tony was really pushing for him to go into science and work for him, but Peter wasn’t one hundred percent sure that’s what he wanted to do. 

Hermione, on the other hand, knew she wanted to work with her dad, and wanted to find new and innovative ways to combine magic and science. Instead of going away to college, she had decided she would continue her “apprenticeship” under Tony and take some online courses toward an engineering degree. Before she was thrust forward in time, and in the middle of a war in the magical world, she had always thought she would move on to find herself living solely in the magical world. However, the time jump, the blip, and being adopted into a new muggle, yet remarkable, family, really changed the trajectory of her life. 

“Peter’s not even bringing the suit with him on the trip,” Hermione said, zipping up her bag.

Tony stopped what he was doing and faced her, his face suddenly very serious. “What do you mean he’s not bringing the suit?”

Hermione shrugged. “He said he just wants a vacation away from being Spider-Man. He wants to just be a kid for a while.”

“You’re bringing your wand, though, right? You don’t want to just be a kid for a while, too, do you?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, I’m bringing my wand. It would feel weird not having it with me. Plus. I don’t have all the pressure of being a superhero like Peter does.”

“Who’s pressuring him? Is it Fury?” Tony asked. 

Hermione shrugged. “He doesn’t really want to talk about it. When he’s with me he just wants to forget about what’s going on in New York and just be with me. It’s a little bit frustrating, really. I wish he would open up and talk about how he’s feeling.”

Tony sat down on her bed. “Is everything okay between the two of you?”

Hermione shrugged again. “I don’t know,” she said. “Before The Blip things between us were really good. I felt like maybe we were something, and we hadn’t even been together very long. He was my best friend. And now? Now I’m not away at school and I see him so much more, but I feel like we’re further apart. He’s always distracted, and he doesn’t want to talk about what is bothering him. The only thing he talks about is school and how he’s pretty sure Happy is in love with Aunt May, and that she may be interested in him as well.”

“Happy and May? Really?” Tony asked, before shaking his head. “That’s irrelevant right now. If things are rough between the two of you, why are you going on this trip with him?” Tony paused. “You’re not going to break up with him in the middle of Europe are you?”

Hermione shook her head. “I don’t want to break up with him,” she explained. “I just,” she sighed. “I guess I’m just hoping this trip will help revitalize our relationship. That being away will give us a chance to reconnect. I’m hoping maybe if we’re away from here, and away from all the pressures of being Spider-Man, maybe he’ll open up to me about what’s bothering. Maybe he thinks F.R.I.D.A.Y. is really working for Fury or something?”

Tony waved Hermione over to him. She sat down next to him on the bed, and he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his body. “Listen, kid. You’re young. You’re only seventeen. I know it’s hard to forget that sometimes because you’re so smart and mature. But I don’t want you to feel like you should be obligated to stay with just one person. I know he’s the one who found you and he brought you into our lives, and I’ll be forever thankful for that. However, if you’re growing apart, that would be understandable.”

Hermione leaned her head on his shoulder. “I know. I know. And I’m trying to remind myself about all of that. It’s just,” she took a deep breath. “He’s my only friend my age. And I do love him. I just don’t know if he still feels the same way about me.” She started choking up. “He talks a lot about this girl in his class, MJ, and I’m just worried that maybe going on this trip is going to be a mistake. I’m going to go all the way to Europe with his friends, and I’m going to see him and MJ together and realize the reason he’s not being so open with me anymore is because he’s sharing all his problems with someone else. And then he’s going to break up with me when he sees us side by side.”

“If he breaks up with you, he’s crazy. And dead. Crazy and dead,” Tony said. 

“Maybe I should just stay home.”

“No,” Tony said. “You’re going. You deserve this trip. And maybe you’ll make friends with some of those other kids who go to that fancy science school. And if Peter breaks your heart, you call me, and I’ll come out there, and we’ll finish the trip just you and me.”

Hermione smiled, wiping her eyes. “Okay, I’ll go on the trip.”

“Good. And call me every night so I know you’re okay, both physically and emotionally.”

“I will.”

Peter watched as Hermione walked into her room at the hotel they were staying in while they were in Venice. Mr. Stark (never Tony, as he was informed once again at the airport when he had dropped off Hermione) had managed to get her her own rooms while on the trip. He didn’t know if it was because he didn’t want anyone to learn that she was a witch, or if he managed to sneak in that spying software into her bag and into her room. Just thinking about the possibility of F.R.I.D.A.Y. being on this trip made him irrationally angry. 

Ever since The Blip, Mr. Stark had been way more protective of Hermione. She had dropped out of boarding school and did all her remaining classes at home. And while he came to see her on weekends, it wasn’t the same as it was before. They were never left alone, and he just felt like they were always being watched. Like Mr. Stark didn’t trust him at all. Which hurt because he still saw him as a father figure. 

He begged for Hermione to go on this trip with him, and he was surprised when it actually worked out. He thought for sure he wouldn’t be able to spend time with his girlfriend away from his girlfriend’s family.

Since May had also Blipped, he didn’t have to deal with the overprotective smothering that Hermione had to deal with. He wanted to ask her why her parents made her quit school, but he didn’t want to be overheard by said parents. He figured Mr. Stark didn’t want to be separated from her anymore, and tightened the leash. He was always glaring at Peter, and he didn’t know why. Peter thought Tony liked him. But apparently not. All he wanted to do was talk to Hermione in private about everything happening in his life. The stress of being Spider-Man. The pressure to officially join The Avengers. But since they were never left alone, he didn’t feel comfortable saying these things out loud. 

He could feel Hermione pulling away from him, and he didn’t like it. He needed to find a way to reconnect with her. To remind her that he loved her. Or else once she started college and her internship with her dad, that would be it. She would realize she didn’t have time for him, and she would probably break up with him. 

He opened the door to his room and threw his stuff on his bed. 

“Ned, I need you to make yourself scarce here for like an hour, man,” Peter said. 

“Why?” Ned said. “Your girlfriend has her own room. Go in there if you want to make out or whatever.”

“Dude, her dad has probably bugged her shit and that’s why she has her own room. I just want to spend an hour with my girlfriend without having to worry about Mr. Stark hearing anything.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot Stark was super paranoid about you deflowering his daughter,” Ned said. 

“Yeah, I can’t even hold her hand around him without him clearing his throat. I’m getting a little annoyed.”

Ned nodded. “Sounds like an overly complicated relationship. She lives so far away from you, and you can never be alone with her. Have you ever thought that it would just be easier to date a girl at our school? MJ has been making eyes at you lately. Now that would be a very uncomplicated relationship. She goes to your school. You see her every day. And I bet her dad isn’t insane. I say, you just break up with whatever her name is and get it over with.”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want to break up with Hermione. And I’m not interested in MJ. You just don’t like Hermione because you’ve never met her, and you’re jealous that there’s someone in my life that I’m closer to than you.”

“Are you though?” Ned asked. “You just said you never have any time alone with her.”

“Well,” Peter said. “I get a lot of time alone with her, and we talk about lots of things and really make the most of our weekends together. I love her. And my plan for this trip is to take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower while we’re in France and tell her that I love her, and give her this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

“Shit!” Ned exclaimed. “You’re going to propose? We’re barely seventeen, man. We have a whole year of school left. Are you crazy?”

“I’m not going to propose,” Peter explained. “It’s a promise ring. I’m going to promise to her that I’m going to be more open and honest with her, and tell her that I love her. And maybe some day down the line, we’ll get married.”

Ned shook his head. “Whatever. It still sounds crazy. You have your whole life ahead of you. There are millions of girls. Don’t you want to see what else is out there? Like MJ?”

“Why the hell are you trying to push MJ on me all of a sudden?” Peter said, exasperated. 

Ned shrugged.

Peter narrowed his eyes. 

Ned broke. “Fine. She told me she has had a huge crush on you and she wants to ask you out while on this trip. She finds you attractive and intriguing. I told her you would turn her down because you were dating some girl long distance. And she said, and I quote, ‘Peter and I talk all the time, and he’s never mentioned anything about a long distance girlfriend. It must not be that serious.’”

Peter sighed. “Well, I don’t know why MJ is going to get a chance to ask me out. I’m going to be spending all my time with Hermione on this trip. I need it. So can you please, please, please, find somewhere else to be for an hour tonight? If my ring is going to have any sort of positive response, I need to start spending time with her now.”

Ned sighed. “Fine. Just let me get my camera. I’ll go on the optional foot tour that’s scheduled in fifteen minutes. That’ll give you a couple hours with her. Satisfied?”

Peter smiled. “Yes, very satisfied. Let me text Hermione and tell her to come on over, and then you can leave and then I’ll be happy. And she’ll be happy, and we’ll all be—”

“Happy?” Ned finished. 

“Yeah,” Peter said. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent Hermione a text. He moved his suitcase from his bed and stretched across it while he waited. Not even a minute later, there was a knock at his door.

He got up and answered, since Ned was still digging through his bags for his camera, and he knew it was Hermione. However, when he opened the door, he saw MJ standing there, and not Hermione. 

“MJ?” he asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“What’s up, nerds?” she said as she pushed her way into the room, slamming the door behind her. 

Hermione had just opened the door of her room when she saw a beautiful girl knocking on Peter’s door. She paused, concealing herself with the door slightly as she watched Peter open the door, and as the girl walked in and closed the door behind her. Hermione felt her heart constrict in her body. Was this MJ? Peter’s friend? The one he was probably going to end up breaking up with her for? Why would Peter text her to come over if he was having another girl come to the room too? Was she meant to see her going into the room? Was Peter sending a message?

Hermione shut the door and stayed in her room. She didn’t want to go over there now. She didn’t want to stand next to MJ and have Peter be able to compare the two of them side by side on the first day of the trip. If Peter wanted to see her, he would just have to come to her room and see her. 

Would he even want to see her? 

Hermione pressed her back against the door to her room and slid to the ground, drawing her knees to her chest, where she buried her face in them and began to cry. 

Peter stopped listening to Ned and MJ twenty minutes ago. Ned had obviously decided not to go on the walking tour, and had never left the room. And MJ wasn’t taking the hint that he didn’t want to talk to her. For the entire time she had been in their room, he couldn’t stop noticing the way she was always looking at him. The way she positioned herself next to him. The light touches on his arm. How had he missed the obvious flirting? Probably because he wasn’t on the look out for it. He had a girlfriend who he loved and he didn’t need to look for other girls flirting with him. 

Speaking of his girlfriend, where was she? Why didn’t she come when she said she would? He looked down at his phone again and there still wasn’t anything from her. And she wasn’t replying to his texts either. Her room was just across the hall from his. She should have been there when—

“Shit,” Peter murmured.

“What?” MJ asked, stopping her story.

“Nothing,” he said. “I just need to go see Hermione. I’ll, uh, talk to you both later.”

“Who’s Hermione?” MJ asked.

“My girlfriend,” Peter said. 

“Wait, your girlfriend is on this trip? She’s Tony Stark’s daughter?” MJ asked.

“Yes, she is.”

MJ laughed. “I can’t believe you’re dating Tony Stark’s daughter. Is this a post blip thing?”

Peter shook his head. “No, actually we met several months before The Blip. We’ve been together I guess if you take away the five year gap, we’ve been together for just over a year.” 

MJ frowned. “Really?” she said. “Why don’t you ever talk about her then?” 

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know. She doesn’t go to our school, so no one really knows who she is, so I just assumed no one would care about her.”

MJ leaned forward, closing the gap between them. “Or, maybe, you don’t feel as strongly about her as you think you do. Think about it. Why else would you flirt with me?” 

And then she kissed him.

Hermione hadn’t moved from her spot by the door. She didn’t know how long she had been sat there, but she felt like she had been there for hours. She had stopped crying a while ago, but now she just felt…numb.

There was a thud against her door, causing her to look up from her knees. She was about to get up and investigate when the door to her room came flying open, pushing her out of the way to fall flat on the floor. She barely had time to react when she felt someone trip over her and crash to the ground next to her. 

It was Peter. 

“Peter?”

“Hermione!” he exclaimed. “I’m so sorry! What are you doing on the floor?”

Hermione pulled herself from the ground back into a sitting position. “Sitting. What are you doing in my room?”

“Why didn’t you meet me in my room? Ned had agreed to go on the walking tour, we would have had the room to ourselves.”

“You know why,” Hermione answered, her voice cracking. 

Peter frowned. “Wait, have you been crying?”

She dipped her head. 

After a minute it was like a light bulb went off. “Fuck. You saw MJ didn’t you? I wish you had come over then maybe—”

“Maybe what? You could see the two of us side by side and make your decision about who you like the best?”

“What?” Peter asked confused. “Why would I be comparing you? I was going to say maybe she would have believed me when I said I had a serious girlfriend and she wouldn’t have kissed me.”

Hermione sat up ramrod straight. “You kissed her!” she screamed. 

“No! She kissed me, and as soon as she did, I got the hell out of there and came straight here!”

Hermione stood up and walked to the opposite side of the room from him, her chest was tightening. She could feel the tears springing to her eyes. She knew something like this was going to happen. She just knew it. 

“I should have trusted my instincts and not come on this trip,” she said, fighting back a sob.

“What? Why?” Peter asked, standing up. “I thought you were excited to come on this trip. To have some time alone with me. At least that’s why I was excited to do this trip.”

“You want me to believe you were excited to come on this trip and spend time with me after you’ve spent months pulling away from me?”

“Me pulling away from you? You’ve been pulling away from me! That’s why I begged you to come on this trip with me. So maybe we could have some time just the two of us without your dad or F.R.I.D.A.Y. snooping on us. So we could rekindle our romance. We never really got a chance to just be us, you know? We had just started dating when The Blip happened, and then when we got back, Mr. Stark has been so protective of you. He made you quit boarding school—”

“He didn’t make me quit,” Hermione interrupted. “I decided to not go back on my own. My dad almost died saving us from Thanos. And I was gone for five years. I didn’t want to go away again. I was at school when Thanos came the first time. My mom called me when you and my dad went to space. Do you know how terrifying it is to be no where near a place when people you love are dragged off into the unknown and you’re so far away you can’t do anything about it? That’s why I chose not to go to school again. So I could be home just in case. So don’t go blaming my dad and his intense need to be overprotective of the daughter he thought he lost forever for me deciding to do my learning at home. It’s not fair.”

“You know what’s not fair? Not being able to ever be alone with your girlfriend.” 

“Peter,” Hermione started. 

“No, did you know you’re my first, like, real girlfriend? Of course you do, because we’ve talked about it. And all I want to do is treat you like a girlfriend. Take you out on a date. Hold your hand. Make out. You know, real relationship stuff. Instead, all our time is spent at your house, where we can’t even get within two inches of each other before your dad is alerted and comes walking in on us!” Peter shouted. “You’re almost seventeen, it’s a little weird that he’s not treating you more like an adult.”

“If you’re so unhappy with our relationship, then why are you still with me?” Hermione asked. 

“Because I like you, I like being with you, I—” he cut himself off. “I’m just really frustrated with the situation. And I wanted you to come to my room tonight so we could spend time together. Just a little bit of time together. That’s it. And you didn’t show up.”

“Because MJ got there first,” Hermione said. 

“I didn’t invite her,” Peter defended. “She just showed up at my door. Uninvited.”

“And kissed you. Why would she think it’s okay to kiss you?” Hermione asked. 

Peter looked down at his feet. 

“This is why I didn’t want to come on this trip. This is why I resisted so hard,” Hermione said, tears flowing down her cheeks openly. “You have talked about her so much in the last couple months. She’s all you talk about sometimes when you visit. Do you know how that feels?”

Peter frowned. “I don’t talk about her that much, do I?”

Hermione wiped at the tears on her cheeks. “You do.”

Peter brought his hands to his face and rubbed. “Hermione,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I don’t feel anything for her, I want you to know that. I didn’t even realize how much I talked about her, or apparently flirted with her, which I honestly have no idea what she’s considering flirting because we’re in classes together, sure, but I spend all my time with Ned while I’m at school and Spider-Man stuff after school. She was definitely reading into the situation. I guess when I was running out of things to talk about, I would just talk about my friends at school, and I have Ned and I have MJ. But when all you can do is talk to your girlfriend from five feet apart, the topics tend to stretch out a bit.”

Hermione frowned. “Did you ever stop to think about the fact that maybe I helped come up with some of the protocols in my house? And that you criticizing them is like criticizing me?”

Peter froze. “Wait, what?”

“I know it’s hard to forget sometimes, but, to me, a little over a year ago I was in 1996. I had my whole world torn away. Then about four months later, I blipped. And then I come back just in time to watch the man who was kind enough to take me in, the person I’m closest to in this time, almost die right in front of me and have to save his life. I just want stability. I want to be a teenager. 

“Back in 1996 my parents had no idea the extent of the war. They didn’t know about Harry or Voldemort, or any of that. In fact, I stopped spending holidays with them, and spent them at Hogwarts and started spending most of my summers with The Weasleys. Being pulled out of my time was so disorienting, and hard, and after blipping, and Dad,” she paused taking a breath. “I decided I just wanted to be normal. So I asked my dad to parent me. I encouraged his overprotective streak. Because I liked being treated like a kid when I had to grow up so quickly back in my time. And I’m not sorry about it.”

“So, you don’t want to be alone with me?” Peter said. 

“That’s not what I said,” Hermione replied.

“That’s what it seems like. Like you don’t want to be alone with me, that you’re scared to be alone with me. Are you scared of my powers?”

“I’m not scared to be alone with you,” Hermione said, starting to feel angry. “Stop putting words in my mouth.”

Peter ran his hands through his hair. “Did you ever stop and think that maybe encouraging Mr. Stark’s overprotective streak you were hurting what we have?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, I didn’t. Because I really didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

“And I thought I was the person you were closest to in this time. I’m the one who found you. I saved your life. If I hadn’t been on that sidewalk, you would have died.”

Hermione reeled back from his statement. “Are you saying that I owe you for saving my life?”

Peter sighed heavily. “No, I’m not—”

“Yes, you are. Because you saved my life, you’re entitled to getting what you want. You want to be the person I’m closest to. You want to be alone with me. Alone. I don’t understand why…oh my god. You want to have sex with me. Is that it? Is that why you’re so obsessed about being alone with me?”

“What? No!” Peter exclaimed. “That’s not it at all! You’re wrong, about all of this. Look, let’s just start over okay? Please? This is not how I wanted this trip to go. Let’s start over.”

Hermione shook her head. “I don’t want to just sweep all of this under the rug. We obviously have problems. You kissed another girl. On the first day of our trip.”

“She kissed me!” Peter defended. 

“And she thought it was okay to do so.”

“Hermione—”

“I think I want to be alone for a little while,” Hermione interrupted. 

“What? Okay, but please don’t call your dad and have him come get you early. Please.”

Hermione nodded. 

Peter reached for the door. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

Hermione nodded again, not trusting her voice. Peter opened the door and let himself out. As soon as the door was closed, Hermione had her phone out, calling her dad.

Peter watched as the canal erupted into tidal waves that formed itself into a giant monster. 

Hermione hadn’t come to his room that morning, and when he knocked on her door, she didn’t answer. He had feared the worst, that Mr. Stark had come in the night and taken her home, but he saw her walking out of the hotel with just her bag and a tour book. It would appear she was just still upset from the night before. And to be honest, so was he. 

They had never fought like that before. Ever. And it made him think about that promise ring in his pocket and maybe it was a bad idea. Maybe they didn’t know each other as well as he thought they did. 

Hermione was right. They had only known each other for a year. Why did he think it was longer? Probably because last summer, or the summer they met, rather, they were inseparable. He had easily fallen in love with her, and had just assumed being in a relationship with her would always be that easy. 

Boy was he wrong. 

Relationships were a lot of work, and after The Blip, he had thrown himself right into Spider-Man stuff, and he didn’t even stop to think about how the whole thing would affect her. 

Honestly, he had forgotten she had time traveled. She was right, it was very easy for him to forget that aspect of her life. That she had been a victim of so much more than just being blipped. He had really forgotten she had come from a time where she was actively fighting in a war. Last night he couldn’t close his eyes without remembering what she looked like when he had found her. There was so much blood. And while when he found her she was a complete stranger, he didn’t think twice before going into hero mode, remembering her like that after getting to know her, after falling in love with her, made him wish he hadn’t been blipped during the whole time travel adventure the Avengers had gone on in order to save everyone, that way he could go back in time and kill the man who hurt her like that. 

But after last night, with the fight, he didn’t know if he would even have a chance to tell her he would go back in time for her. Everything was so fucked up. He didn’t realize how messed up their relationship had gotten. 

But none of that mattered right now, as he watched the water creature emerge from the canal and start going on a rampage through Venice. He took off in a sprint toward the creature to try and stop it, and then came to a halt. He didn’t have his suit. Why the fuck did he think it would be a good idea to go off on a vacation without his suit?

He looked around, and he saw Hermione up on one of the boardwalks, her wand out and she was casting something at the monster, but it didn’t seem to be slowing it down. But it sure as hell was getting the monster’s attention, and drawing it away from the crowds. Peter was thankful he had his web shooters and he pulled his hood up over his head and made his way up to where Hermione was standing. 

“Hermione!” he shouted.

“Peter!” she shouted back. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but nothing I’m casting is working.”

Peter landed next to Hermione. “It’s just water isn’t it? I just watched it come up from the canal.”

“That’s the thing. When I cast, it’s not really picking up anything is there. But obviously there is something there because it is coming right toward us.”

“So, if I’ve learned anything from your dad and The Avengers, its fight the monster first, ask questions later,” Peter said. “And right now we need to fight this thing so no one gets hurt. I’m really wishing I brought my suit with me now.”

Hermione shot another spell at the monster. “I brought it. It’s in my room though. I had a feeling something terrible was going to happen. Blame it on my PTSD or whatever, but I didn’t think traveling without it was a good idea. I can summon it for you if you want?”

“No, no, that’s fine. I think I can manage if I stay mostly out of sight. I’m going to try and slow it down and draw it away from here so no one gets hurt.”

“What do you want me to do?” Hermione asked. 

Get the fuck out of here, is what Peter instinctively wanted to say, but knew it wouldn’t go over well. Instead he decided to be supportive rather than protective. “Do you have a spell that will make it harder for people to see me?”

Hermione pointed her wand at him and said something in Latin. “There, I put a notice me not spell on you. The Muggles won’t notice you now, and possibly the monster as well.”

Peter couldn’t help himself, he closed the gap between them and kissed her. It felt like eternity since he had last kissed her. It just felt awkward doing so in her home. But as their lips met, it felt like all the doubts, all the tension between them just melted away. And he could tell Hermione was feeling the same, because she relaxed into him. The kiss was short, and to the point, there was a monster attacking Venice after all, but he knew it was the jolt they needed. 

He pulled back and he looked down at Hermione. “Can we talk? After all of this is over?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I would like that.”

He smiled, feeling like things could actually be okay between the two of them after all. “Great. So should we kick this monster’s ass?”

Hermione nodded, smiling. “We really should.”

They turned back toward the water monster and Hermione took a defensive stance, wand up, and Peter started to make his way to the tallest part of the city. Just as he got to the tower, he noticed something strange. It looked like there was a man flying toward the water monster. 

“What the…” he trailed off, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. It looked like a man, dressed in armor and a cape flying through the sky. “Thor?” he mused, but then remembered the god was off on an adventure in space or something. No, this was someone different. Very different. 

He just stood there on the tower and watched as the strange man singlehandedly defeated the water monster, and didn’t even break a sweat. He swung back down to the bridge where Hermione was still standing, staring at the man. 

“Who is that?” she asked. “I don’t recognize him.”

Peter shook his head. “I have no idea.” He reached down and took Hermione’s hand, leading her down from the bridge, and back to the hotel, where they would be able to have their talk.

Hermione’s heart fluttered the second Peter’s hand touched hers. He was right last night, it had been a long time since they had been able to touch one another, and who knew touch would be so important? 

After Peter had left last night she had called her dad, but instead of asking to come home, she had ended up just telling him everything was fine. That she was having fun. She didn’t know why she had lied to her dad, but she just had a feeling she should carry on. Stay at least one more day. Even though she felt like she was just going to have her heart broken. But, even if Peter broke up with her for MJ, or because he felt wronged by how they spent time together, she had to be brave and face it head on. If she just left that would be the easy way out. A way of delaying the inevitable. 

She hated that she and Peter were fighting. They had never gotten so angry at each other before. And it hurt. It scared her how much it hurt. Before the trip she was prepared to let their whole relationship go, but now? Now she was goign to fight for him. Fight for what they have. She wasn’t going to let MJ steal her boyfriend without a fight. She just needed to remind Peter of how happy they were. Before and shortly after The Blip. 

They wove their way through the carnage the water monster caused, and Peter didn’t even glance over. She was surprised. He was usually ready to get in there and really start to take a lead. He wanted to be part of The Avengers so badly, to be treated like an adult. But he wasn’t even leading them toward the mysterious man who had defeated the water monster. They were heading back to the hotel. 

“Don’t you want to know what’s going on?” she asked. 

Peter shrugged. “Not really. I’m on vacation.”

She looked up at him. “Really? I told you I have your suit. We can go get it, and you can go as Spider-Man if you really wanted to.”

Peter shook his head. “No, I really want to stick to what I committed to. No Spider-Man for this trip. Especially after last night. I really want this to be a time where we can spend together and maybe we can fix whatever there is between us. Because, I don’t like this feeling between us, and I’m willing to fight for us.”

Hermione looked up at Peter. “Me too.”

Peter unlocked the door to the room he was sharing with Ned and breathed a sigh of relief. Ned was still gone. He was probably out being nosy about the mysterious guy and the water monster. Which worked out well for him and Hermione. He was trying to not be paranoid about Mr. Stark listening in on their conversation, but it just made him feel better that they were in his room, not hers. 

He watched as Hermione pulled out her cell phone and began texting.

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

“Telling my dad that we’re both fine since I’m sure he’ll catch wind of the water monster somehow, and about the weird cape guy. He’s still in constant contact with The Avengers, because he doesn’t know the definition of retirement, so he’ll be able to tell them we saw everything if they need an eyewitness account or whatever.”

Peter smiled at her. 

“What?” she asked after putting her phone away. 

“Remember when you first got here, to this time that is, and you had no idea what any of this technology is? And now you’re texting like a pro.”

Hermione smiled. “Mom says it’s because I’m young and I can easily adapt. I’m still amazed by the Internet though,” she said with a laugh. 

Peter laughed as well. “I’m still amazed by the Internet, and I’m from this time.”

Hermione smiled at him, and he realized he couldn’t remember the last time she smiled at him that widely. Or that brightly. And it made him wonder how long she had been unhappy. Months probably.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said, sitting down on his bed. “I’m so sorry for being so absent and emotionally unavailable and just not a good boyfriend the last I don’t even know how long. I got really paranoid about F.R.I.D.A.Y. and your dad having contact with Director Fury, and instead of talking to you about everything, I kept things inside and ruined everything between us.”

“You didn’t ruin everything,” Hermione said. “I helped.”

“We’re terrible communicators is what I’m getting from this.”

“The worst.”

“This is what I wanted to solve last night before we had that fight. I knew I sucked at telling you what was really bothering me, but I had no idea you thought I was going to break up with you for MJ. In fact I had no idea I was even telegraphing anything about MJ. I was just thinking we were having a rough patch from lack of communication, not that you thought I was cheating on you.”

“Honestly? I didn’t want to come on this trip because I just knew if you could see me and MJ side by side, you would break up with me and I would be stuck on this trip by myself, watching you and MJ be together.”

Peter shook his head. “Hermione. Seeing you and MJ side by side has only made me realize how lucky I am to be with you. You’re so beautiful and so very much out of my league. You graduated early for crying out loud. You are going to have an internship and go to college at the same time. Just thinking about how smart you are makes me need a cold shower. Smart and beautiful? You’re basically the perfect woman. I have to keep reminding myself that you’re real and not a figment of my imagination.”

Hermione’s cheeks reddened and she looked down at her feet. “You don’t need to flatter me so much. You have me, you know.”

Peter shrugged. “I just want to make sure you’re fully aware of how attracted I am to you so that you don’t have any more doubts about the way I feel about you. Or the way I see you.”

“Peter,” Hermione said. “You don’t even know how much I needed to hear this. I’ve just felt you pulling further and further away from me this past year, and I just felt like I was losing you. I didn’t know what I had done wrong.”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s all me, and my fucking paranoia.”

“What are you so paranoid about?”

“This year, as you know, I’ve really amped up being the neighborhood Spider-Man. Your dad has really helped me, by lending me Happy, to make a name for myself and really get into the nitty gritty of New York City. And, apparently, since I’ve been doing such a good job, Director Fury wants me to join The Avengers full time. Like drop out of school and move to the compound, go on real missions. And I just, I’m not sure that’s something I even want to do. I’ve been kind of hoping your dad would let me get an internship with his company once I graduated and I would go to college, and I don’t know, be Spider-Man on the side.”

“And you were worried with dad’s connection to Fury and The Avengers he would over hear your plan to not want to be an avenger and report it back to Fury,” Hermione finished. 

He nodded. “Got it in one.”

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea my sudden onset agoraphobia made it so you felt you couldn’t tell me what was going on,” Hermione said. “We’re quite the pair aren’t we?”

Peter laughed. “You’ve got that right.”

“If you don’t want to be an avenger, I say, don’t be an avenger,” Hermione said. “No one is going to force you to be something you don’t want to be. And you want to know a secret?”

Peter nodded. 

“My dad has been talking about you coming on with us once you graduate. He thought it would be a tough sell to convince you to do what I’m doing, online courses and internship with him side by side, but he was confident he could convince you. He always talks about grooming the next big thing, and how he plans to leave us both in charge of Stark Industries when he is too old to run it.”

Peter smiled. “He wants both of us to take over?” 

Hermione shrugged. “Something about how it’s inevitable that his surrogate son will become his actual son someday or something of that nonsense.”

“Last night I thought you said he was rooting for us to break up?”

“Not exactly rooting but supportive of the fact that it could happen. He just wanted me to be happy and I haven’t been happy for a while, honestly. Because you were keeping all of this bottled up. I could tell something was bothering you, but the fact that you wouldn’t tell me what it was, really made me start to worry that something was wrong between us, relationship wise. And then you would come over and talk about MJ, and then I Facebook stalked her, and saw how beautiful she was, and I just couldn’t believe you would want to be with me over her. Does MJ know about what’s been bothering you?”

Peter vehmently shook his head. “No. She doesn’t even know I’m Spider-Man. The only person at this school who knows that is Ned. And I haven’t even told him about this. And I haven’t told May either, since I’m pretty sure she’s sleeping with Happy.”

Hermione moved from Ned’s bed to right next to him on his. “Wait, so you’re telling me you’ve just been holding all of this inside, for months?”

Peter nodded, and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes and his throat was getting tight. “Yeah. I really wanted to talk to you, but with F.R.I.D.A.Y. always spying on us, I didn’t want your dad to overhear. He offered me a spot on the team before The Blip after I begged and begged to be on the team, and I turned him down in favor of being a kid for just a little while longer. And I just thought if I he knew I didn’t ever want to join the team, he would be so mad, or he would be disappointed. I have all these powers, and I feel like Fury wants to exploit them.”

Hermione ran her hand down his arm until she could link her hand with his. “My dad won’t be disappointed in you. He’ll be so proud that you chose to live a life of your own than what is expected of you. My dad is not who he was five years ago, Peter. Ever since he almost died in space and came home to find both of us gone and he couldn’t get us back, he’s changed his priorities. Throw in Morgan, and you’ve got a much softer version of Tony Stark. He just wants everyone to be happy, and alive.”

Peter couldn’t help himself, he just let himself go. Let himself become so emotional. His body began to shake with sobs. He felt Hermione wrap her arms around his shoulders and pull him close to her. He turned so he could wrap his arms around her waist and pull her close to his body. He buried his face in her hair and just let himself cry. And as he cried he could just feel all the pressure that had been sitting in his chest for the last year release. 

Mr. Stark would be proud of him. 

He could do what he wanted

Spider-Man could be a part time gig.

He hadn’t driven Hermione away. 

He pulled back from Hermione as his sobs subsided. “So, what you’re telling me is I just have to make it through next year and I can join you at Stark Industries?”

Hermione brought a hand up, and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “Actually, love, dad wanted me to talk to you about the possibility of graduating early. He thinks you have the knowledge to take the GRE to get your diploma, and you can just start with me at—”

Peter cut off whatever she was going to say next, bringing his hands to the side of Hermione’s face to pull her forward capturing her lips with his own. When he broke the kiss, he fumbled in his pocket for the ring box. He pulled it out and opened it. 

“I know we are young, and we have a lot to work out between us, but I feel confident that we’re going be able to weather all of the storms ahead of us. I love you more than I thought would be possible. Your family is my family, and I feel like I truly belong with you. I know this past year was rough for us, readjusting post-Blip, but the fact that we were able to work things out, is testament to the fact that we will be able to work out our problems like adults. I was going to do this when we got to Paris, at the Eiffel Tower, but it’s stupid not to do it now.”

Peter got down on one knee. 

“Peter,” Hermione whispered. 

“It’s not what you think. Not exactly anyway. I love you, and I want to give you this ring as a token of my love. As a promise that I’ll be a better listener, a better communicator, a better person. That I want to make things work with you. You’re my best friend, Hermione. And I can’t imagine my life with anyone else. So, with this ring, it’s not a proposal for marriage, but a promise that one day, some time in the future, we will get married.”

Peter held his breath as he waited for Hermione’s response. 

“I love you, too,” Hermione whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “And I love that future you have pictured for us. I promise I’ll do my best to become a better communicator, and a better listener. And remember to talk to you when there’s something bothering me.”

Peter smiled and stood from the ground. He slid the ring on her finger, and her arms immediately went around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.

As he stood in her room, wrapped in the embrace of the girl he loved, he couldn’t help but think about how happy he was. And how much he was looking forward to the future.


End file.
